The Chamber Revisited
by Everhere Everthere
Summary: A missing chapter to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Read and Review please.
1. Section I

**Authors Note**

About a month ago, over Spring Break, I opened some of the boxes I had opted against taking with me to college and pulled out my slightly worn copy of _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, _and, on a whim, decided to start reading it again. I spent a good portion of my one and only free week of the semester in the magical world of Harry and his friends as I watched him take the final steps to concluding his epic adventure. The book was as entertaining as it always was and it held true to its reputation of keeping me captivated from page one.

However…

This third or fourth time through the book I noticed, or rather actually gave it more than few seconds of thought, something odd. In Chapter Whatever-It-Is during the battle scene between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters Harry, after looking for them _all over the place _for about two and a half chapters, reunites with Ron and Hermione and finds their little package of _Deus Ex Machina _wrapped in a bundle of bloody cloaks_. _After they've all exchanged pleasantries_, _Harry asks the two where they have been, and then Ron, almost off-handedly, tells him that they just popped on over to the Chamber of Secrets to get some spare Basilisk fangs to rid themselves of those pesky Horcruxes once and for all.

Okay…time out…

Is it just me, or was that place a _hell _of a lot harder to get to five books ago?

Since all seven of the books in the _Harry Potter _series are told through Harry's experiences, anything that happens away from the bespectacled protagonist are left up to audience speculation. A writing technique that, although fosters an extreme sense of loyalty for Harry, leaves a lot of questions open for the other characters in the narrative. I.E. Ron and Hermione.

What happened down there? What did they find? Who did they meet? And, most importantly, how did they get out?

Now, believe you me, I'm not trying to diss the talents of J.K. Rowling or the route she took in concluding what is possibly the greatest epic tale of our generation. Quite the opposite. I just found it odd that the act of returning to a place that was _the central subject to an entire book_ was only given a paragraph or two of attention in the final book.

So…I decided that I would write the accounts of Ron and Hermione in the Chamber of Secrets myself and see what I can come up with. Now, please don't hold me to the standard of Ms. Rowling (and also don't sue me because a majority of the characters I'll be using belong to her and Scholastic) but _do _try and keep an open mind as you read through it, because I do like myself the occasional review now and again.

Anywho…that's enough of my rambling…I present to you, solely for your entertainment, the missing chapter of _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows._

EnjoyCha

_Everhere Everthere_

**The Chamber Revisited**

The feeble and huddled form of Hermione Granger cringed against the side of a stone wall as yet another bright green explosion shook the foundation of her school. She put her hands above her head to shield her from the falling debris and made a small, terrified squeal as a particularly big chunk of rock exploded on impact just a few feet away from her.

When the dust cleared she gave the room she resided in a terrified once over to make sure that the friend who had accompanied her had been as fortunate as she had. It wasn't long before she was able to breathe a sigh of relief as the lanky, red-haired form of Ron Weasley rushed over to her side.

"You okay?" he asked in a voice edged with worry.

She managed a feeble nod before he helped her to her feet. He pulled her close into a warm, reassuring hug and she let herself fall into his arms and let the security of his embrace flood within her.

"We have to find Harry" she spoke into his chest, her voice barely more audible than a whisper. "He needs our help."

Ron squeezed her tighter and gently brought his hand up into her hair.

"What Harry needs is a way to destroy the Horcruxes, and he won't get to that any sooner if we keep following him around like lemmings."

She looked up at him.

"But Ron, what if he's hurt? He needs someone there with him."

Ron released her from his embrace and gripped onto her shoulders, soft enough not to hurt her but stern enough to know that he was serious. He looked into her eyes as he spoke.

"Hermione" he said, "I don't know if you've noticed but Harry Potter has an entire _school_ fighting alongside him tonight. Just about everyone the bloke has ever met is out there, risking their lives, so that he can do what he's been chosen to do. And none of them are sticking to his side asking them to hold their hands and get them out of this mess. And we can't either. We have to help Harry in any way we can, even if that means leaving him on his own."

At this point and time in the series of events that surrounded the final battle between Good on Evil on the grounds of Hogwarts School, it is the opinion of this narrator that, at that exact moment, time itself stood still.

Hermione Granger was at a loss for words.

As she looked up at this boy who had been one of her closest friends for years and whom she had shared countless of death-defying adventures with, she felt as she was looking at him for the first time. The stern look on his face, the imperial arch in his brows, and the deep sense of resolve in his eyes all told her one thing: Gone was the little boy who had constantly whined at her for the past seven years, gone was the boy who had made her feel rejected and unwanted on two separate occasions, and gone was the boy who had been little more than a factory for dramatic tensions and complaints of malnourishment.

Before her now, stood a man. A man who had finally taken full responsibility for himself and others around him and was ready to do whatever it took to help his best friend save the world from evil.

And Hermione had never been in awe of that little red-haired boy than she was now.

She gave him a small, affectionate smile and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Okay, Ronald" she said, "Where do we go from here?"

All at once the confidence and fortitude in his features disappeared and was replaced by a look of embarrassment and a hint of rouge in the cheeks.

"Uh, well…actually, I was kind of hoping _you _had an idea."

Hermione repressed a sigh and let it die in her throat.

_It was good while it lasted, I suppose._

"Well let's start with what we know" she said "we know that the Horcruxes are a very evil and powerful that can only be destroyed by a few things."

Ron nodded.

"Right, but our only option is currently being held captive by Snape, and I don't think he's about to let us have it no matter how nice we ask."

Hermione closed her eyes and urged the wheels in her head to turn faster.

"There has to be _something _else that can destroy the Horcruxes…no magic is without weakness."

"Yeah, but the trick is finding it, isn't it? Come on, Hermione, think. You've read half of Hogwarts libraries inventory, there's bound to have been something in there that could have helped us."

Hermione pressed her fingers to her head and closed her eyes even tighter, trying, _pleading, _for an answer to come to her.

But nothing came.

She probed through her memory from _Hogwarts: A History_ and tried in vain to remember useful information from _Secrets of the Darkest Art_ but her intuition, the one thing she prized above all else, was failing her.

Finally, the strain proved to be too much for her and she fell to her knees in stress and despair.

"I'm sorry, Ron!" she sobbed, "But I just can't remember! All I can think of is how a basilisk comes from a toad nesting a chicken egg! Now Voldemort's going to take over the world and it's all my fault! I'm so sorry, Ron, I…"

She stopped her panic attack for a moment when she noticed the look on her friends face. Instead of hopelessness and disappointment, like she had expected, the look on Ron's face was a look Hermione was all too familiar with. It was the look she got every time that little light bulb labeled "Eureka" lit up the confines of her brain like a kilowatt. If she wasn't mistaken, which she never was, then Ron Weasley just had one hell of an idea.

"Hermione…" he said, his face growing bright with the light of realization. "I know what to do."

And then he ran off in the opposite direction before she even had a chance to be proud of him. And as soon as she got her bearings, she was hot on his trail.

"Ron!" she called, "Ron, where are you going!?

He continued on as if he didn't hear her. He was moving so fast that he looked to her like a bright orange blur shooting ahead of her like a comet.

"Ronald…STOP!"

He halted, mid stride, and turned to her.

"What?"

She stumbled to a stop herself and took several deep breaths in order to catch her oxygen.

"Where…exactly…are you…taking us?"

He smiled.

"To the bathroom, of course."

**To Be Continued**

Ok, I know, I know, this was _supposed _to be just one chapter in the form of a one shot…BUUUT…I changed my mind and decided to give this all to you guys in _sections _rather than chapters (although if all goes according to plan this promises to be one _hell _of a long chapter).

Anywho…As I've said, I am writing this solely for my entertainment and for others, and I hope that those who read will review it and let me know what all they liked about it. Critiquing, be it good or bad, is something I've always appreciated and it really helps move the story forward I think…

So…

Until Next Time,

_Everhere Everthere_


	2. Section II

_Section II_

Although it was a fact that shamed him to his very core, Ron Weasley knew the way to the Girl's Lavatory on the second floor like he knew the back of his own freckled hand. This also made it all the more difficult for Hermione to keep up with him. He could vaguely hear her shouts of protest from behind him but he ignored them for the most part. His blood was still pumping massive amounts of adrenaline through his body and he feared that, if he slowed down, his body would crash altogether.

Ron skidded to halt outside the Girl's Bathroom, spewing up trickles of water in all directions.

"Funny how this place is always _wet." _Ron mused to himself.

A few moments later Hermione came panting into the hallway, her hair disheveled and her face shining with perspiration.

Ron smiled.

"'Bout time you got here, Hermione. I was beginning to get worried."

Hermione held up a threatening finger.

"Do _not _start with me." She looked to the door of the bathroom. "Now, why are we here again?"

Ron smiled and tapped the door with his knuckles making a dull rapping sound.

"I know what to do about the Horcruxes."

"What? _Plunge _them out of existence?"

Ron acted as if he didn't hear her.

"You remember our second year, don't you?"

Hermione shuddered.

"How could I forget? When I wasn't spending my time being petrified I was licking bits of dander out of my fur. But what's that got to do with anything?"

Ron smiled.

"Well, when Harry and I went down with Lockhart into the Chamber of Secrets, Harry met Tom Riddle, killed the Basilisk, destroyed the Horcrux, and got Ginny and the rest of us out all in one piece, he _left _the Basilisk down there, didn't he?

Hermione nodded, albeit a little hesitantly.

"Yes, he did. Or at least I haven't seen it seen it slithering about in the corridors. I'm sorry Ron, but I'm not following your train of thought."

Ron suddenly surprised her by slamming his hand against the side of the door and beamed excitedly.

"Hermione, don't you get it? The Basilisk is _still _in the Chamber and, with it, all the Horcrux-Destroying Basilisk venom we would ever need!"

There was a silence there for a moment that was broken only the sound of Hermione dropping the Hufflepuff Cup and the locket to the dank, hallway floor. She could only manage to stare at her friend in absolute astonishment.

"Ron…that's…that's _brilliant!"_

Ron felt his face grow hot and his cheeks grow red as he tried to cover up the pride he felt swelling in his chest.

"Well…y'know…it was nothing…just a lucky guess, really…"

Hermione ran up and gave her friend a huge hug (something she hadn't been able to do in quite some time) and let the hug linger for a few extra moments. Ron hugged her back and pulled her in tighter, and the two stayed that way for several moments, lost in each other's embrace and oblivious to the war and devastation that went on outside the walls around them.

When the hug was finally broken (much to the distaste of both parties) Ron, his face still as red as his hair, opened the door and ushered Hermione in.

"Ladies first."

She smiled at him and let her hand her trail the line of his waist gently as she walked passed him, causing his body to tingle from head to toe.

Ron entered the bathroom. His feet made small splashing noises across the sopping floor as he trudged along with Hermione. The moonlight shone of the surface of the water in all directions bathing them, and the dim little washroom, in an eerie, pale glow. Hermione placed a hand in the crook of Ron's elbow and gave it a nervous squeeze. Ron felt himself grow red again, but he ignored it. He gave the room a quick glance-around for Moaning Myrtle, praying against fate that the bathroom's ever-present wailing inhabitant had decided to take an early holiday due to the raging battle outside.

After a few moments of silence in the bathroom, Ron was satisfied that the melancholy spirit was not in the room with them and he gave a sigh of relief. He turned to Hermione.

"This way"

He led her over to the special sink that he and Harry had discovered so many years before. The sink, despite the fact that it housed the schools darkest secret, didn't look much different from any other, except for its unique markings on the tap.

"This is it." He said, with a grand sweeping gesture.

Hermione wrinkled her nose.

"Charming." She knelt down to inspect the sink more closely. "I don't understand…Where's the chamber?"

Ron pointed at the serpentine carvings on the tap and traced along it with his finger.

"Slytherin's Mark. This is the one all right; this is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets."

Hermione's face lit up.

"You found it, Ron! You found the Chamber!"

Ron smiled nervously.

"Yeah we _found _it sure, but it looks we may have another problem."

Hermione squeezed his shoulder. "What is it?"

"When Harry and I came down here five years ago the only way we could get _into _the Chamber was for him to…hiss at it."

Hermione looked at him, confused. "Hiss at it?" Then, she understood. "You mean he spoke Parseltongue!"

Ron nodded. "Yeah…and unless you've been studying up on your snake language recently, I'd say we've hit a dead end."

Hermione narrowed her gaze and looked over the sink in frustration.

"Oh but there must be _something _we can do! Ron, can you remember what Harry said?"

"Remember it? I couldn't even _understand _it!"

"Ron, you have to try! This is our only chance to help Harry!"

Then, she did something that surprised both of them when she gently wrapped her arms around his waist and looked at him with sincere admiration. "I know you can do it. You're the only one who can."

Ron stared into those brown, pleading eyes then and knew, even though it was a nigh impossible task, that he absolutely _had _to get the secret entrance to the Chamber open. Not just for Harry…but for her as well.

Ron pulled her in for another hug and whispered quietly: "All right."

He turned to the sink and leaned in close so that the branded tap was just inches from his lips. Then, as if he was talking into a microphone, he did his best to impersonate the sounds he had heard Harry Potter make all those years ago:

"Haaaassssssshhhhhhhh-Hiiiissssssshhhhhhhh."

He waited. Nothing happened.

He turned to Hermione. "Anything?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Keep trying, Ron! We don't have much time!"

Ron, swearing a little under his breath, turned back to the sink and dug, deep within in sub conscious, for those magic words that would grant them access into the Chamber of Secrets. He began to recall the night vividly in his head, he remembered running down the dimly lit hallways, he closely following Harry's lead as he had always done. Then they had barged into Lockhart's office, he remembered, and caught the slandering old fool just as he was about to abandon Hogwarts good. Then, he could remember it vividly now, they three have walked into the Girls Bathroom on the second floor, interrogated a sobbing Moaning Myrtle, and then they had found the secret sink. After he and Harry had discovered the tap he leaned over to it, so close that his lips were almost touching it, and he had said:

"Ssssshhhhhaaassshhhhaaaarrrrreeessshhhh."

Two things occurred to Ron Weasley at that moment. One, he saw that the tap on the sink began to glow and that a secret entranceway began to open up right before his eyes, and two, a eerie, slithering tingle snaked up his spine making him feel both powerful and disgusting at the same time. He would've stayed there for hours, looking at what he had done, had it not been for the bone crushing hug given to him by Hermione.

"Ron, you did it! I'm so proud of you!"

Ron, still bewildered by his own accomplishment, could only manage a goofy little grin.

"Yeah…I guess I did, didn't I?"

Hermione beamed at him for a few moments more, before looking down the dark, and hollow tube that now lay out before them.

"_This_ is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets?"

Ron grimaced as he remembered his own experiences on first discovering this dank, musty pipe.

"Yup…it helps if you picture kind of like a water slide…only with muck and dead things at the bottom."

"Smashing."

Hermione looked back at Ron.

"Well…what are you waiting for?"

Ron backed up a few paces and gestured towards the opening of the tube.

"Ladies first."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Always the gentleman, aren't you Ronald?"

Before he could answer, Hermione plugged her nose, sat in the opening of the tube, and let herself slide down into the abyss as the sound of her disgusted screams echoed off the walls around her.

Ron, still unable to believe he was at this horrid place _again, _cautiously sat down of the opening and plugged his nose as well.

"Here goes everything."

And with that, he too slid down into the Chamber of Secrets.

The ride down was much like the last time. It was dark, slimy, and pungent odors pierced his nose throughout the entire descent. It wasn't long before he could see light on the other end of the tunnel and he quickly braced himself for impact.

A few moments later he felt the safety of the tube vanish from beneath and he was falling. He landed in a heap amidst slime, muck, and other unmentionable things. Ron swore under his breath and rose to his feet and tried to find her Hermione. He found a few feet away from brushing some sort of sludge from the front of her robes.

"How do you feel?"

Hermione glowered at him. "Spectacular." She looked behind over to the widening entranceway of the chamber. "I can't see anything."

Ron hastily drew his wand. "Right" he muttered under his breath, and then a little louder he said "Lumos!"

Ron's wand tip ignited, and the newfound umination revealed to them a large dank hallway. The light also fell upon the old snakeskin that he and Harry had discovered their second year which caused Hermione to jump.

"Relax," Ron said, "It's only the skin." He looked down towards the hallway, "That's the way; I'd remember that creepy place as long as I lived."

Hermione walked over to his side and clutched his arms.

"Okay then" she said, "Lead the way."

Suddenly, there was silence. Moments passed. Neither one of them moved.

Hermione turned to Ron with concern, a concern that could only grow when she saw the look of pure distress etched across Ron's features.

"What is it?" She asked, whirling around, "What's wrong?"

Ron gulped. "Nothing, it's just that...I've never really _done _this before."

"Ron, what are you talking about? You and Harry came down here five years ago! _Of course_ you've done this before!"

Ron shook his head. "Not that. I mean I've never…_lead the way_ before. That was always Harry's job."

Hermione looked at him and her heart swelled. Over these past few months, even when she was both furious with and out of her mind with grief over his departure from their campsite, she felt strong feelings for this odd, little redheaded boy she had met seven years ago. And now, in this moment when he was risking everything to help his friends, his family, and his kind, she felt them grow even more.

She took her hand and grabbed Ron's, lacing her fingers around his like a lattice-work quilt. She felt him shiver.

"It's ok, Ron" she whispered as she nudged closer to him, "I trust you. There is no one I would rather have down here with me than you right now."

He looked down at her. Even in the dim light of his wand she could tell his face was absolutely scarlet.

"Really?"

She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. She figured that was all the answer she needed. And even though she couldn't see it, she could feel both Ron's confidence and his morale boost upward tenfold.

"Right then" he said, "Let's go save the world, shall we?"

And with that the two of them, hands entwined, entered the Chamber of Secrets.

As Ron and Hermione entered the Chamber a creature, high above them, sat watching. A creature so terrifying that even the Basilisk could not compare to it.

And it _did not _like visitors.

**To Be Continued**

All right, so that about wraps up the second section of this "forgotten chapter." You know, when it's all said and done I imagine this could just about the right size for a traditional J.K. Rowling chapter, at least toward the end anyway.

Anywho…I hope you all enjoyed this second installment and I hope you'll stick around for the rest. Read and Review, Por Favor.

Oh and also (I forgot to put this in the other chapter) but all characters and places (for now) belong to J.K. Rowling and Scholastic. So, not getting sued would be pretty fantastic.

_Everhere Everthere_


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